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GET STARTED, PART 5And now we've come to it - earning college credits through examinations.
That banner up there. It's really caught your eye, right? Just how does someone go about earning 12 credits in 90 minutes? Seems too good to be true, doesn't it? Well, it actually is possible. If you take and score well on one of the CLEP world language exams, you can earn up to 12 credits for it. For instance, at Thomas Edison State College, a score of 50 on the Spanish CLEP will earn you 6 credits, as Spanish 101 and 102. If, though, you score a 63 or above, you'll get 12 credits - Spanish 101, 102, 201, and 202. |
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We're kind of getting ahead of ourselves at the moment, though, so let's backtrack and talk a bit about earning college credits with exams.
You're probably already at least passingly familiar with the CLEP exams. CLEP, or the College-Level Examination Program, is owned by the College Board, along with the SAT and AP (Advanced Placement) tests. The CLEP exams cover many of the typical general education courses colleges and universities require. Most are worth 3 credits each, but some can earn you 6, and then, as mentioned above, the language exams can be worth up to as many as 12. For the most part, schools limit how many CLEP exams they will take and which ones. As an example, here's a list of CLEPs you can take and transfer to Florida State University. Note, though, that for FSU, "A maximum of thirty semester hours of credit earned through examination may be applied to the liberal studies requirements."
TESC, COSC, and Excelsior do not place such tight limits on the CLEP exams. You may have heard somewhere about someone who "tested out of college." In fact, that may be what brought you here to HC USA. This is because of the Big Three's generous acceptance policies toward testing. The schools now generally require a capstone course, (with rare exceptions), so you usually can't quite test out of a full BA or BS degree, but you can come pretty close to it!
CLEP is not the only game in town. There are other options for taking exams and earning college credits. (Note: High school students can take AP tests for credit. You do not have to take an AP course to take an AP exam.)
DSST (DANTES) - DSST exams are very similar to CLEPs, but they do cover some subjects not available through CLEP. Also, some DSST exams are worth upper-level credits, (something you will need for your BA or BS degree.)
ECE (Excelsior exams) - Excelsior College has their own list of exams. You do not need to be an Excelsior student to take them and you can get credit for them awarded through other schools. Like the DSST exams, some ECE tests are worth upper-level credits. Also, Excelsior has teamed up with Pearson to create UExcel, another testing option.
TECEP (Thomas Edison exams) - These work the same way as the ECE exams. Thomas Edison has recently partnered with Saylor, to align exams with the free Saylor courses. You can learn more about that here.
Other testing options:
TESC will award credits for foreign language proficiency through the New York University Foreign Language Proficiency program. The following comes from the TESC website: "Each examination tests four basic areas: comprehension of the spoken language; the written language in composition; translation from English into the language; and translation from the language into English. Up to 16 hours of credit may be earned, depending on the level of performance. Students may request the registration form from the Office of Test Administration at (609) 984-1181. Students may also test at New York University or make arrangements to test at other locations by calling (212) 998-7030." (Emphasis added by me.) The information about what you need to do to make arrangements to test at other locations is here. There are over 50 languages listed in this program, so if you are fluent in a language other than one of the three covered by CLEP - French, Spanish, and German - this may be a good option for you. You can learn more here.
COSC awards credit toward your BA or BS degree with a handful of GRE exams. If you take and score in the 40th percentile on the English Lit or Psychology exam, you get 18 credits. If you take and score in the 40th percentile in chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics, or computer science, you get 24 credits. That's 18 - 24 credits for one test.
You do not need to live near any one school campus to take any of these tests. There are testing centers all around the country. You simply need to go to the testing company's website and do a search to find a testing center near you. Keep in mind, along with the fee to take the exam itself, there is usually a testing center fee. In general, I recommend budgeting between $100 - $110 per exam in order to cover both the test and testing center's fee when looking at CLEPs or DSSTs, and about $130 for TECEPs. ECE exams vary in cost, so read over their website carefully. Also, the NYU language exams and GRE exams are more expensive. (You may be able to save some money with a TECEP. One option for proctoring for taking a TECEP is to use your local public library. One library near us charges $25 for proctoring services, but another one does so for free.)
Unlike with courses through StraighterLine, ALEKS or a college or university, to prepare for a college-level exam you need to do some independent study and review. If you choose any of the general subjects listed on HC USA's main page, you will find a list of individual subjects that align with various exams. On each page there are multiple resources you can use - the large majority of which are free. You are under no obligation to ever purchase anything. Books and other sources listed that are fee-based are entirely optional and mentioned only for those who feel they need additional study help.
We're almost through Step 2 - Ways to Earn Credits. (Did you even remember we're still only on Step 2?) There's one more option to discuss before we go on to Step 3 - Building Your Degree Plan.
You're probably already at least passingly familiar with the CLEP exams. CLEP, or the College-Level Examination Program, is owned by the College Board, along with the SAT and AP (Advanced Placement) tests. The CLEP exams cover many of the typical general education courses colleges and universities require. Most are worth 3 credits each, but some can earn you 6, and then, as mentioned above, the language exams can be worth up to as many as 12. For the most part, schools limit how many CLEP exams they will take and which ones. As an example, here's a list of CLEPs you can take and transfer to Florida State University. Note, though, that for FSU, "A maximum of thirty semester hours of credit earned through examination may be applied to the liberal studies requirements."
TESC, COSC, and Excelsior do not place such tight limits on the CLEP exams. You may have heard somewhere about someone who "tested out of college." In fact, that may be what brought you here to HC USA. This is because of the Big Three's generous acceptance policies toward testing. The schools now generally require a capstone course, (with rare exceptions), so you usually can't quite test out of a full BA or BS degree, but you can come pretty close to it!
CLEP is not the only game in town. There are other options for taking exams and earning college credits. (Note: High school students can take AP tests for credit. You do not have to take an AP course to take an AP exam.)
DSST (DANTES) - DSST exams are very similar to CLEPs, but they do cover some subjects not available through CLEP. Also, some DSST exams are worth upper-level credits, (something you will need for your BA or BS degree.)
ECE (Excelsior exams) - Excelsior College has their own list of exams. You do not need to be an Excelsior student to take them and you can get credit for them awarded through other schools. Like the DSST exams, some ECE tests are worth upper-level credits. Also, Excelsior has teamed up with Pearson to create UExcel, another testing option.
TECEP (Thomas Edison exams) - These work the same way as the ECE exams. Thomas Edison has recently partnered with Saylor, to align exams with the free Saylor courses. You can learn more about that here.
Other testing options:
TESC will award credits for foreign language proficiency through the New York University Foreign Language Proficiency program. The following comes from the TESC website: "Each examination tests four basic areas: comprehension of the spoken language; the written language in composition; translation from English into the language; and translation from the language into English. Up to 16 hours of credit may be earned, depending on the level of performance. Students may request the registration form from the Office of Test Administration at (609) 984-1181. Students may also test at New York University or make arrangements to test at other locations by calling (212) 998-7030." (Emphasis added by me.) The information about what you need to do to make arrangements to test at other locations is here. There are over 50 languages listed in this program, so if you are fluent in a language other than one of the three covered by CLEP - French, Spanish, and German - this may be a good option for you. You can learn more here.
COSC awards credit toward your BA or BS degree with a handful of GRE exams. If you take and score in the 40th percentile on the English Lit or Psychology exam, you get 18 credits. If you take and score in the 40th percentile in chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics, or computer science, you get 24 credits. That's 18 - 24 credits for one test.
You do not need to live near any one school campus to take any of these tests. There are testing centers all around the country. You simply need to go to the testing company's website and do a search to find a testing center near you. Keep in mind, along with the fee to take the exam itself, there is usually a testing center fee. In general, I recommend budgeting between $100 - $110 per exam in order to cover both the test and testing center's fee when looking at CLEPs or DSSTs, and about $130 for TECEPs. ECE exams vary in cost, so read over their website carefully. Also, the NYU language exams and GRE exams are more expensive. (You may be able to save some money with a TECEP. One option for proctoring for taking a TECEP is to use your local public library. One library near us charges $25 for proctoring services, but another one does so for free.)
Unlike with courses through StraighterLine, ALEKS or a college or university, to prepare for a college-level exam you need to do some independent study and review. If you choose any of the general subjects listed on HC USA's main page, you will find a list of individual subjects that align with various exams. On each page there are multiple resources you can use - the large majority of which are free. You are under no obligation to ever purchase anything. Books and other sources listed that are fee-based are entirely optional and mentioned only for those who feel they need additional study help.
We're almost through Step 2 - Ways to Earn Credits. (Did you even remember we're still only on Step 2?) There's one more option to discuss before we go on to Step 3 - Building Your Degree Plan.
